Category Archives: Workout gear

My husband set aside the unfinished area of our basement as our home gym. We have equipped it with a lot of stuff so if we chose to, we could workout downstairs vs. having to get in our cards and trek on over to the gym. One of my most favorite pieces of equipment is my Proform 785SS treadmill. I purchased it back when we lived in a town house in 2002 and LOVE IT! It is over 10 years old and still going strong. I like that it is extra wide so I don’t feel confined when I run on it and it actually is pretty sturdy when I pick up the speed. Another cool thing about it is it never allows you to lower the incline beyond 1.5! I was initially shocked by this but when I figured out you shouldn’t get on a treadmill with 0 incline anyway in order to best mimic the outdoors, it made perfect sense.

Like I said, we have a bunch of equipment but this by far is my favorite.

What is your favorite piece of home equipment? Why? Share in comments below.

I recently posted a question on the Femme Fitale Fit Club public Facebook page asking everyone their favorite fitness app. Unanimously folks came back stating they love their Fitbit device and app. That of course raised my curiosity so I started lookin around. My husband did mention Fitbit to me as a way to track your sleep pattern to help you get more sleep and since that is an April 2013 challenge I really wanted to understand more about that.

I went to Best Buy last weekend to purchase my Polar FT4 HRM which I absolutely LOVE and right next to it was a bunch of Fitbit trackers. I am trying to educate myself so I spent a little time reading the packaging. It appears there are several versions/types of trackers along with the app and the folks I know who own one have different versions. OY!

Soooo I set out on my own to figure out this wonderful world of Fitbit. Here is what I found.

This is the newest and latest device from this company called the “FLEX” and is due out this Spring! It tracks activity wirelessly as well as sleep. It’s cute and indiscrete as it fits on your wrist and comes in other bright colors. OH, this is also WATER RESISTANT! That means you wear this in the shower or bath!

This is called “ONE” and is also tracks activity wirelessly as well as sleep. It comes in other colors and tracks alot (steps taken, calories burned, distance travelled, whether you climbed stairs just to name a few). This itty bitty thing is a power house!

Next up you have the “ZIP”. It is an activity tracker ONLY therefore it costs a little less than the other device. This is what I saw in Best Buy as I stood there for 20 minutes trying to figure out what this did an how it could help me. It comes in other bright colors and easily clips on to your clothing. For those who are simply trying to start moving and tracking this – this is for YOU!

This is the “ARIA” scale. I own a Tanita body scale but I tell ya, this one might give it a run for its money. This puppy is Wi-Fi enabled, syncs your statistics and progress to the app over wi-fi, and tracks body fat, weight and BMI! Wow…..call this baby the TURBO of body weight scales! I plan to jump on this thing at Best Buy to see how I like it. Anyone looking to get fit knows alot has to do with body composition vs. simply weighing less since muscle weighs more than fat but is more compact than fat.

Now let’s talk price point. These bad boys aren’t cheap. I would say they are mid-range. The cheapest item is the “ZIP” and that is about $60 bucks. The scale appears to cost the most at around $120 but considering what it does, sounds like a good value. The online app is FREE and can be downloaded from any of the popular online stores.

As you can see, I downloaded the app and now need to set it up. I don’t have a Fitbit tracker yet but who knows…….I will continue doing more research. I did check out their public Facebook page HERE and signed up to become an Ambassador. Seems they posted that offer a few weeks ago so I may be just straight out of luck by this time but we shall see. Ya never know.

In the meantime I will keep you all posted if I ever end up buying me one of these!

Got up this morning, put on my running shoes and went for my 3-mile run around the neighborhood in the fresh air. A neighbor of mine accompanies me and we truly enjoy the solace we get from this grueling workout. We run up and down steep and not-so-steep hills and at the end it is very rewarding because we got it in.

I received a heart rate monitor watch this past Christmas and as you all know I lost one and purchased a new one just this past May 2012. The watch has several features I like to take advantage of including calculating average HRM, speed and distance. That it takes the guessing out of it.

Well the problem I have with the watch is….it doesn’t calculate my proper heart rate. Each time I finish using it and look down it shows my average heart rate in the high 100’s or even 200’s! I mean I am all that but COME ONE!!!!

I called Sportline about it, spoke to their representative and basically he told me….this is a known issue with the watch and there is nothing neither I nor they can do about it. They offerred to replace it with the same model but what sense does that make? This is the 1st replacement and it doesn’t work consistently. What will another replacement serve? *Sigh*.

I am back in the market for another heart rate monitor watch. What other brand of heart rate monitors does everyone suggest considering I want to calculate and track my heart rate plus be able to report speed, distance and possibly location/GPS. I am now willing to pay a little more for a quality heart rate monitor.

I am sadly disappointed with my Sportline Duo 1060. Farewell dear friend. Parting is such sweet sorrow but we must depart because you can’t satisfy me. Bye bye…PLUNK in the trash.

Like this:

I can’t complain. I was born with a fairly petite frame at least in height and I am not overly endowed in the chest area. When I work out – I can wear a medium-control bra and I am GOOD! No wigglies or jigglies. Who ever thought small boobies would give me an advantage? But if you aren’t like me and have some tig ol’ bitties….then you need MORE…much more. When I have run with a group of women I have seen some scenes where I actually felt sorry for the well-endowed person attempting to run and keep up with the rest of us.

Poor child was ducking and dodging black eyes and a big pull on the back with the wiggly jiggly. And being many of us are novices in the fitness arena I do not believe there is a lot of knowledge or awareness around the proper sports bra control to wear or the appropriate brands that fit well with our bodies. Sports bras are essential when doing any physical activity.

They allow your body to breathe, bend and move without restriction and most importantly they offer the needed support depending on the activity. If you are doing low intensity you may not need as much support but by gosh if you are running, jumping, bouncing….you better make sure you have what you need so you aren’t distracted with “the ladies”.

Maybe people have purchased sports bras back in the day and are still wearing the same one 5 years later (I am guilty of it but recently threw out the old ones). They’ve lost their elasticity and integrity but hey it is a sports bra so wear it out and honestly, I am surprised they can concentrate on the workout with the boobs moving all over the place. New and trendy sports bras aren’t necessarily overflowing in Victoria Secrets and isn’t what makes up our day of shopping in the mall. Nonetheless they are important for the active ladies or the inactive to active ladies. 😉

With all of that said here are some tips when shopping or caring for sports bras:

Go to a sporting goods apparel store with trained professionals who can assist you with the fit and allow you to try on the bras.

Make sure there is no cinching or pinching and you can move your arms freely.

Do some jumping jacks – how are the girls behaving? Are you giving yourself black eyes – pick a different bra.

Try to find bras with sweat-wicking material. Nothing worse than being weighed down with a wet sweaty bra. Blah!

Take care of your bras so they last a little while (maybe not 5 years but at least 6 months) by washing them on gentle cycle and air drying them. Do not use dryer sheets on them as they break down the material in the bras along with the excessive heat.

The bras today are nifty – they have storage capacity (think of grandma putting money in her bra) – find the one that fits your needs (hold keys, ID or $$).

If you need a full figure bra – take the time to find ones that properly support, minimize the jigglies, flatter and are comfortable.

Now get out there and find the perfect sports bra for your activity whether you are a petite girl, medium girl or full-figured woman…there is a bra for all of us.

I’m also in the market for some new ones – leave me a comment and let me know which brands you think are awesome.

I bought this bracelet to help with stress and to give me more energy during my hectic day. I wore it for about 1 month and got a pretty color to boot. Has anyone else tried this bracelet and if so – did you see any results? Please post a comment below on your feedback and tell me what you thought of it so we can compare results.